Finance guide
When you buy off-plan, the title deed doesn't exist yet — the building isn't built. Oqood is the DLD's interim registration that puts your purchase on the official record in the meantime. Here's what it is, what it costs, and how it protects your money until handover.
Oqood is the Dubai Land Department's system for registering an off-plan sale-purchase agreement while the unit is still under construction. It records your claim in the interim register — it is not the final freehold title deed, which issues at handover.
The developer registers the Oqood with the DLD once you sign the SPA and pay the initial instalment. You receive an Oqood certificate evidencing your registered interest in the specific unit.
The 4% Dubai Land Department registration fee on an off-plan purchase is typically paid at the Oqood stage (sometimes split or partly absorbed by developer incentives). Confirm who pays it in your SPA.
When the project completes and you take handover, the Oqood interim registration is replaced by a full title deed in your name at the DLD — provided payments are complete and the developer's completion paperwork is in order.
Off-plan payments go into a RERA-regulated project escrow account, released to the developer against construction milestones — not handed over up front. Oqood + escrow are the two pillars of off-plan buyer protection.
Because Oqood is on the DLD register, a developer cannot quietly sell the same unit twice, and your interest is traceable if you later assign (resell) before completion.
To assign your Oqood-registered unit before handover, you typically need the developer's NOC and to meet a minimum-payment threshold. The buyer is then re-registered on the Oqood.
If a developer can't show your purchase registered on Oqood after you've paid, stop and verify with the DLD. A missing interim registration means your claim isn't on the official record.